LGBT legal group: No lawyer should help conservatives

Family Research Council warns of new campaign to deny legal representation

The Family Research Council is warning of an effort by progressives to deprive conservatives of their legal representation.

The LGBT Bar Association is running a petition called “Commit 2 Including” that urges the legal community not to collaborate with conservative groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Counsel, which have obtained major religious-rights victories in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“First, LGBT activists wanted conservatives out of the wedding business. Then came professional sports, the restaurant industry, big tech, teaching, broadcasting, the police force, fire department, local government, the Olympics, military, counseling, adoption and foster care. What’s left? According to one extremist group, the law,” says the latest Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, which is written by FRC’s senior writers.

“The legal profession has already seen its share of bullying from LGBT extremists. In at least four states, judges have been threatened, suspended, or otherwise punished for their marriage views. In two states, they’ve been professionally disciplined. Of course, there’s been an effort to shun lawyers who express any sort of support for natural marriage for years,” it continued.

FRC said the LGBT Bar Association is hoping to persuade the legal community that mainstream organizations such as Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defending Freedom are waging “a systematic, insidious, and well-funded crusade to strip protections from LGBT people.”

The petition urges like-minded activists to “refuse to collaborate” with conservative organizations.

The petition asks that people agree to “publicly object to the anti-LGBT legal groups which operate within the United States legal system, including groups operating as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Liberty Counsel.

“We, the undersigned members of the legal community, commit to inclusion by ensuring that our personal pro bono and volunteer capacity and personal financial resources will not be used to support the work of ADF and Liberty Counsel.”

FRC said that so far, the petition “hasn’t gotten a lot of traction — probably because the legal profession, like the rest of us, see this pledge for what it is: another declaration of intolerance.”

“Worse, that declaration comes from a profession with a tradition of defending unpopular ideas. The LGBT Bar wants to deny their opponents access to justice and the courts, which undermines the legal system’s own principles!”

At LGBTQ Nation, a report said the petition had obtained a few dozen signatures.

A statement from the LGBT Bar Association said: “For over 25 years, Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Counsel have waged a legal war against the LGBT community, systematically opposing equality for LGBT people in the areas of family formation (including marriage) and reproductive freedom, rights and protections for youth in schools, and access to goods and services.”

FRC quoted Ken Klukowski of First Liberty: “This group’s call for tolerance is just a cover for social tyranny. If the LGBT Bar Association wants to be taken seriously (a tall task after this stunt), it should start being an advocate for the law.”